Speculative Fiction—an all-encompassing genre created to describe stories of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and other stories that have an element of “What if...” in them. A story in speculative fiction is one that adds an element of the unreal, or asks, what would become of our society if history took a different direction at some important event? Fiction with a little something extra thrown in.—William D. Richards

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Monday, June 12, 2017

Once Giants (Once Giants, Book 2) by Eugene Kirk and Garan Mad

Release date: May 13, 2017

Subgenre: Military science fiction, Cyberpunk

About Once Giants:

The future is a no-holds-barred free for all, but all in a day’s work…when you were Once Giants.The
year is 2189, and a wormhole leading to five habitable planets has been
discovered, prompting a new global space race. Political undermining
and sabotage abound, creating the perfect blend of chaos and opportunity
for newly minted NETwork operator Tina Thompson to put her augmented,
former pro-wrestler body to the test in the mercenary game.

But
her celebrity past isn’t so easy to outrun. And when her infamy botches
her latest job in Imperial East Africa, her actions trigger
repercussions that affect former rival Shay Santiago as well.

As
Tina and Shay both struggle to salvage their lives, a bigger threat
looms. A mysterious gravitational anomaly has appeared, threatening to
destroy the solar system itself. And Shay’s old high school flame may be
the only person on Earth who can stop it.

Richly textured,
interweaving narratives introduce new characters and bigger military
sci-fi threats in this second installment of Once Giants, offering a
thought-provoking look at how one person’s actions can affect the entire
world.

Excerpt:

Shay
extended her fangs, bit down, and tore at the savory meat. Swallowing
fist-sized chunks, she sped through to get to the part the gathering crowd of
construction workers really wanted to see. Her crew hooted and cheered when she
showed off the smooth, stripped thigh bone. Neighboring crews stopped work and
strolled over to watch the spectacle. Shay smiled and waited until everyone was
ready before continuing.

It
was always fun putting on a show for the boys. It reminded her of better times.

She
licked her lips and placed the thick beef bone lengthwise in her mouth,
positioned it against her augmented incisors like a pair of bolt cutters. Then
she crunched down, her teeth slicing clean through with a loud snap. The heavy knuckle of the joint
quickly met the same fate as Shay munched away, crushing and chewing. The
shards of bone and marrow rolled around on her tongue, the flavor tickling her
taste buds delightfully before she swallowed the last of it.

“Damn, girl. I still don’t know if I
find that sexy or scary,” Hank said, shaking his head. A few of the other guys
laughed in agreement.

“What can I say?” Shay flashed a
She-Wolf smile, pulled on her thick work gloves, and fixed her hard hat. “I do
love a nice, big bone.” She shot a wink their way, and the men hollered. More
than a few called out that they had a bone for her anytime. Shay laughed right
along with them as she picked up an I-beam and hefted it onto her shoulder. She
grinned and launched a handful of insults and lewd comments of her own,
inciting another chorus of rowdy cheers. Then, abruptly, a booming voice cut
through the lunchtime din.

“Santiago! My office. Now!”

***

“You can’t be serious, Frank!” Shay
crouched uncomfortably in the trailer that served as an improvised office for the
site foreman, the tight confines pressing in on her large, seven-foot-two
frame. In the corner, a battered standing fan clattered away; a vain attempt to
stave off the oppressively humid Florida heat.

“The memo came down this morning.” A
smug look was plastered over Frank Jensen’s sweaty face. “It’s out of my
hands.”

Shay
looked out the small window to see the crews slowly getting back to work,
climbing into rust splattered, faded yellow machines, or up makeshift stairs
with tools in hand. She should be out there with them. She clenched her jaw
before looking back at Jensen. He’d always had something against her. This wasn’t the first
time he had tried to lay her off for something stupid.

“What is it this time? Subcontractor
bringing in auto-lifters? Company lost the bid for the next stage of the
superstructure?” Shay huffed and forced herself to calm down. With her rent
already overdue, a complication like this couldn’t have come at a more
inopportune time. Guess she’d have to suck up to the fat bastard. “Come on, Mr.
Jensen. I’m already taking unpaid leave to go to the convention next weekend. I
need to be onsite to make up my time this month. Just shuffle me somewhere
else. Put me on with Hank or Fry on the East block. Those guys have been
complaining for weeks about being down a loader.”

“I already said it’s not my
decision.” He made a show of shifting through the papers and blueprints on his
desk. His frustrating habit of acting as if he didn’t know exactly what he was
looking for caused Shay’s ire to rise. Finally, he picked up a folder, opened
it, and nodded before sliding it toward her.

“Seems the head office has some
issues with that wrestling club of yours.”He leaned back in his tattered chair, failing to hide a grin with a
couple of fingers over his lips.

Shay
scanned over the contents. What the hell?
The first page was a full-sized, glossy print of herself, dressed in one of her
old costumes and growling at the camera. The logo of the American Amazon
Wrestling League was emblazoned across the top, her own logo at the bottom in
holographic text: The Savage She-Wolf. She couldn’t begin to recall how many of these
same promotional glossies she’d signed in her days both in and out of the
League. Hundreds? Thousands? Shay continued on, flipping through the packet of
documents until she came to a freshly printed story from the International News
Network: Former
Amazonian Woman’s Wrestling League
Villain Commits International Crime in Real Life.

About Eugene Kirk:

I've been writing for about twenty years, mostly in the Sci-fi
genre. Before then, I used to make up stories all the time for role
playing games, along side my co-author, Garan Mad. But now, with a wife,
two kids and a full time career as an engineer, I don't have time to
game anymore, but my creative juices still flow, so now I pour them into
my writing.

After publishing a couple of novels, I've switched
to focus on shorter length works; something I like to call "Made for TV
novels". They are fast, fun reads that you can digest in an hour or so,
much like an episode of your favorite TV show. And with the time
pressures we all have these days, maybe a couple of hours is all you can
afford to spend on some quick entertainment. So hopefully you'll enjoy
the format and if you keep reading it, I'll keep writing it.

About Garan Mad:

Though I trained as an artist, writing has always been a passion
of mine, though this was kept mostly to Role Playing games, alongside
long-time friend and co-author, Eugene Kirk.

A few years ago I
fulfilled my dream of publishing a series of comics called CONTRACT and
although comics/graphic novels have always been my first passion the
time and monetary constraints of artwork production is quite daunting.
So, after a bit of encouragement to return to writing I've jumped (back)
into the pool.

So pick up a book, give it a shot and, most important, if you enjoy PLEASE let us know.

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